Food Freedom Friday Edition 334 - Is Liver Good Or Bad For You?

The liver of a healthy animals has been a prized foods for generations as it is loaded with important and often hard-to-get nutrients. The source can be beef, chicken, lamb, or lesser-known options.

On the flip side, liver contains such an abundance of certain nutrients that it is possible to eat too much of it! For instance, more than a few full servings a week can run the risk of vitamin A toxicity. You might then wonder whether liver is good for you, or bad for you?

The most popular forms of liver are sourced from cows, chickens, and lambs. It’s possible to find beef, chicken, pork, lamb, and goose liver in butcher shops and grocery stores around the world.  

Eating liver may not be as popular as it once was, but the benefits of eating liver are causing a resurgence and interest in this superfood.

Liver’s unique collection of ‘active ingredients makes it a great addition to any diet, and can be especially beneficial for low carbohydrate and carnivore dieters.

Organ meats including liver have been viewed as sacred foods since antiquity. 

Liver was even in the diets of the runners, weight lifters, and other early Olympic athletes of Ancient Greece, it was preferentially given to nursing and pregnant women in Native American culture  and Africa’s Nuer tribe regarded liver as so sacred that only a select few people were able to touch it.

Now-a-days, liver is making a comeback, but it can be an acquired taste, which has given rise to the production of desiccated liver supplements. They provide a way of getting the benefits of quality grass-fed liver in the convenience of a pill.

Nutrition Facts

Liver is rich in a variety of important nutrients, especially vitamin A, and B vitamins. The ancient peoples we mentioned above didn’t understand the molecular and physiological role of carotenoids and B12 but they were tuned-in to their bodies enough to know that liver is indeed a special food when it comes to boosting physical health.

Gram-for-gram, liver is one of the most nutrient-dense foods available. 

It really shines when compared to conventional muscle meats — which are themselves highly nutritious. 

Liver tends to be far higher than other cuts in vitamin A, K, B12, and copper. A 100-gram serving of liver meets your RDV for a wide variety of nutrients. Liver is also very high in cholesterol in light of its low-fat content.

Exploring the liver nutrition for 3 popular varieties in more detail: 

Beef Liver

Iron 

Beef liver is a great source of highly-bioavailable heme iron. Research shows that heme iron can prevent anemia and help hard-training athletes recover from their workouts more quickly.

Heme iron is also of great importance to expecting moms.

Nucleic Acids 

While your body makes nucleic acids on its own, research shows that the generative ability falls over time as you age. 

In stressful conditions, the demand for these acids can exceed their rate of regeneration. Beef liver is an unusually rich dietary source of nucleic acids, making it a boon for anyone who wants to age gracefully.

Metabolism-Boosters

Beef liver is rich in lipotropic (fat-liberating) B vitamins that may help you stay energized and lose weight.  Studies show that these B vitamins are also great for your own liver.

Beef liver is also rich in the B vitamin folate which is especially important for pregnant mothers as it helps the developing baby grow and differentiate at the right rate.

Liver Enzymes

Cytochrome P450 is an important family of liver enzymes that support hormone production, detoxification, and the overall health of your own liver.

Carotenoids 

Beef liver is rich in several forms of vitamin A. These forms, including b-carotene and preformed A, are essential for maintaining healthy skin and vision. Liver’s vitamin A content is also why it shouldn’t be eaten daily.  

Chicken Liver

Chicken liver sourced from from a healthy chicken is definitely healthy for you too. 

Protein

Chicken liver is also a great source of protein. For those who follow a high fat, low-carb approach, chicken liver may help improve satiety and cut cravings. 

Chicken liver’s combination of high protein and low calories (it’s 73% protein by calorie) may also be a good option to help improve body composition.

B Vitamins 

Most impressive of all is chicken liver’s B vitamin content. Like most types of liver, it’s simply loaded with B vitamins, notably B12. 

Healthy Fats

Chicken liver is considered neither red meat nor white meat but is rather categorized as offal. This status means chicken liver may be lower in PUFA and other unhealthy fats than other parts of a chicken, even if it’s not from pastured chickens

Lamb Liver

Considering how good for you beef and chicken liver it would be logical to think that lamb liver offers similar benefits

Iron

Like virtually every other type of liver, lamb liver is rich in easily-absorbed heme iron. Just 100 grams of lamb liver contains 8 milligrams of iron. That’s 100% of your RDA. 

Nucleic Acids 

Lamb liver, like beef liver, is rich in nucleic acids that help transmit genetic traits.

Dietary nucleic acids are also beneficial for health and longevity

Metabolism-Boosters

Lamb liver is rich in metabolism-boosting B vitamins, including B1, B3, B6, and B12. 100 grams of lamb liver contains an incredible amount of B12: A whopping 1400% of your RDV, to be exact. 

This makes liver a true superfood for athletes and other people with higher-than-normal bioenergetic demands.

In addition to B vitamins, lamb liver is exceptionally rich in selenium, which boosts metabolism via a different route (the thyroid). 

Is Eating Liver Good for Your Liver? 

The simple answer is most definitely.

Eating the liver of healthy animals (with the exception of polar bears and a few others) is a truly holistic way to supercharge your health. 

Furthermore, eating liver can also safeguard the health of your liver. Part of this effect can be explained by animal liver’s CP450 content. There are still many unknowns as to the ‘why’ of the benefit. It’s likely that animal livers may also contain many yet-to-be-discovered ‘anti-fatigue’ factors.

Many holistic practices believe that like supports like. You can eat liver to support your own liver, eat kidneys to support your own kidneys, and eat heart and brain to benefit your own heart and brain health. 

When Is Liver Ever Bad For You? 

Liver is brimming with nutrients, and unfortunately, this can also lead to problems that warrant the question, “Is liver ever bad for you?”

The short answer, yes — but only if you really overdo it. Eating a full serving of fresh liver more frequently than twice a week can lead to vitamin A hypervitaminosis or toxicity.

The liver of certain animals can also be bad for you. Thankfully, you are most unlikely to be able to source or eat these animals as the most toxic types of liver are from polar bears, walruses, and seals.

How to Source Quality Liver

There are also practical issues to consider when it comes to sourcing liver. 

You may not like liver’s taste, or you might be rightfully concerned about contamination issues (this becomes more of a problem with chicken liver).

If you don’t have access to grass-fed or pastured, organic beef or lamb liver, then it may be time to consider supplementation. There are many high-quality, well-sourced desiccated supplements available to choose from. Desiccated liver supplements from grass-fed cows in New Zealand is a popular and solid option.

The Takeaway

Liver is among the most nourishing foods on the planet, especially if it’s sourced from a grass-fed, pastured, well-treated animal.  

In fact, it’s so hyper-abundant in vitamin A, that it is possible to eat too much liver, resulting in vitamin a poisoning. For this reason, liver should not be consumed more than a few times a week (3-4 oz serving). A daily liver supplement will fall well within these boundaries too.

Give it a try – you may be pleasantly surprised, especially when you notice the benefits to your wellness.